Brantly, I guess it is according to what you are looking for in racing.

The clone class in my opinion is an excellent class to begin in if you have no experience or are looking for the cheapest way to get started.

The clone engine is real cheap, $130 - $160 and is pretty fast for what it is.

If you don't have a kart you have a choice of trying to find a good used kart or buying new. A good used kart should be no more than $500 to 800 or cheaper. New karts are $1200 to $1800 or more.

I race both the clone and TAG class. The way I compare the two is that the clone class is more like stock car racing and the TAG is Formula 1.

I think the racing tends to be closer in the clone class because of the slower speeds.

It comes down to how much you want to spend, with the clone class being much cheaper to run with slower speeds, using regular pump gasoline and the TAG more expensive._________________Kerry Wilson
Former Senior 4 Cycle Director
One of GSKA's Founders

Hey Brantley
The smile per dollar ratio is huge in the clone class .
Alan has a chassis for sale on our forum that would work .
http://www.georgiasprintkarting.net/forum/ads_item.php?id=131
Add another $300 bucks for motor , header , and misc. parts and you should be in your budget ._________________Rippin RacingPowered by Revvv...

I spent about $900 total getting a kart and getting it race ready, getting the tools and a trailer.

Since that this season I use 1-2 gallons of gas a race I could still be running on the same set of tires but I bought different ones. And I add 16 oz of oil every weekend. That and a couple $12 gears and thats it!

I honestly spend more in bottles of WD40 cleaning my kart than anything else

This weekend racing for last place was some of the best racing I have done._________________Shane Metzger

As the clone class grows we have different races going on due to the difference in drivers and karts. Even though Shane and myself were not up front didn't matter because we had our own war so to speak going on further back. That is what is fun about this class. Not much money involved but a lot of fun and now more competition due to the variety of people trying this class. Sometimes slow is just a word and has no effect on the competition . Eventually we hope to be up front with the hot dogs but for now we will be content to do battle further back.

As the clone class grows we have different races going on due to the difference in drivers and karts. Even though Shane and myself were not up front didn't matter because we had our own war so to speak going on further back. That is what is fun about this class. Not much money involved but a lot of fun and now more competition due to the variety of people trying this class. Sometimes slow is just a word and has no effect on the competition . Eventually we hope to be up front with the hot dogs but for now we will be content to do battle further back.

If you want to be competitive I would suggest starting out with a chassis that does well in low HP 4 cycle classes, like:

Coyote FreeRoller (including wide track variants)
Bandit Y2k

The two above chassis have been running at the front of WKA Gold Cup classes for years. I have a 96' Coyote and I think Mike's is even older than mine. I got mine as a basket case off 4cycle.com for $600. Put some leftover wheels & tires on it from a Jr chassis I bought for my son, and first time out it was fast. My point being, there is a reason those chassis still look pretty much the same today as they did in 96'. They work.

There are some other chassis out there that work well too, but it should be pretty easy to find a Bandit or Coyote.